Madmartigan from Willow – Costume Breakdown

Our next family cosplay is going to be Willow with Jonathan as Madmartigan, Tessa as Elora Danan and myself as Sorsha. (I’m also trying to recruit my mum to be Bavmorda or Fin Raziel, or get my sister and her friend to do the Brownies…)

Anyhoo, when I start planning for a new cosplay, I get pretty OCD about breaking down the costume and making plans for putting the costume together. I was spending an evening doing another one of my super anal costume breakdowns when my husband suggested I share with ya’ll on my blog. I mean, here I was toiling away on a Word Document, and keeping it all to my onesie, when there’s a world of cosplayers out there.

Now, I know Madmartigan is a cosplay that isn’t exactly lighting up the costume galleries at acparadise.com or cosplay.com, (I have found, to date, three other Madmartigan cosplayers wearing Outfit One and Outfit Six) but I thought, what the heck? Even if it’s not used for costume recreation reference, you Willow fans out there might get a kick out of this! 😉

I plan to start posting more costume breakdowns in the future, btw, so hopefully you guys enjoy!

About Willow

Willow is a 1988 film directed by Ron Howard and produced by George Lucas, and one of my all time favorite movies. Way before I had kids – heck, way before I met Jonathan – I always said if I had a girl first I’d do a Willow cosplay, and a boy first would be a Labyrinth cosplay.

My husband enjoys Willow, as particularly enjoys the novel, but doesn’t have that blind fan girl passion I suffer from. Seriously, if the Willow universe were as diverse as Lord of the Rings, I would seriously jump ship. Yeah, I said it.

Madmartigan’s Outfits

Madmartigan (played by Val Kilmer) wears a total of six looks in the movie. These are:

Outfit One – Crow’s Cage at Daikini Crossroads

He wears this from his introduction in the crows cage, to his walking away with Elora Danan. This is one of the more elaborate costumes. He has an intricate shirt, vest, belts and loose leg pants with detailed boots. However, his costume is obstructed by a cage through the majority of it’s screen time and we’re only given two brief scenes (literally, seconds) of a full body shot with this outfit.

Outfit Two – Hilda at the Roadside Tavern

He wears this when Willow runs into him at the roadside tavern, and continues to wear it during the chase with Sorsha’s men.

Outfit Three – Battleworn Hilda on the Run

Throughout the fight with Sorsha’s men, the Hilda costume slowly gets shredded. He wears this (still with original boots from outfit one) during the travel with Willow to Fin Raziel, after their separation, and during their reunion once captured by Sorsha.

Outfit Four – Madmartigan in Captivity / Swordsman Madmartigan

During the captivity march back to Bavmorda, Madmartigan is suddenly wearing black pants and a black shirt. (Same boots as outfit one.) He wears this all the way to Tir Asleen.

Outfit Five – Battle Garb at Tir Asleen

Once arrived at Tir Asleen, Madmartigan changes into battle gear from the armory. He wears this during the remainder of the battle against Bavmorda.

Outfit Six – Knight of Tir Asleen

This is the finale outfit, seen very briefly, where everyone is living happily ever after in a now un-cursed Tir Asleen. This is Madmartigan looking all dressed up and spiffy, although the majority of his outfit is obstructed by Sorsha and Elora Danan.

We decided to go with outfit four because really, the only two iconic outfits from this movie (in my opinion) are Outfit Four and Outfit Six. And since Elora Danan is no where near Madmartigan during his wearing of Outfit Six, if we want to do a family cosplay and photoshoot with Madmartigan, Sorsha and Elora Danan all together, the whole dust of broken heart / I love you Sorsha scene seems to be the way to go.

So! On with the costume breakdown!

Feet –

He wears the same boots throughout Outfit One to Four. Tall front lace light tan colored leather moccasin boots. Decorative crest with yellow, red and blue embroidery design on the sides. Long front lace up string overhang.

Legs –

Drawstring straight leg black pants, loosely tucked in to the boots. They appear to be a medium weight cotton or linen.

Torso –

Black medieval swordsmans shirt with drop shoulders and full (yet somewhat fitted) sleeves with simple hemmed cuffs. Rounded neckline without collar. The shirt has a front opening, with rough, unfinished edges. The shirt appears to be made of linen or broadcloth.

Small round drawstring leather pouch necklace on a leather string. Light twine detail on the string.

Head –

Long dark brown / black hair, about mid-back length. Loosely parted down the middle and combed back. One large braid down the back, and two smaller braids on the sides of the face. Front braids are tied with red fabric.

Silver hoop earing in left ear.

Props –

Broadsword with rounded pommel and crossguard.

So there’s my breakdown! We’re going to be hard at work on this costume starting this weekend, so keep your eye out for our upcoming cosplay photoshoot! ^_^

Character Bio

Madmartigan was the son of a noble Daikini family of Galladoorn. He fell in love with princess Carissima of Cashmere and was forced to choose between breaking the knight’s code or his own heart. With his rival Jarenth’s orchestrations, Carissima was convinced that Madmartigan had been cheating on her. The princess then falsely accused Madmartigan of revealing court secrets to her.

Thus Madmartigan lost all honor along with the armor and stature of knighthood. He then spent much of his time in taverns and other haunts while Queen Bavmorda began to expand her borders, crushing all opposition. The knights of Galladoorn took to arms to repulse her at Land’s End, and Madmartigan’s best friend Airk gave him one last chance to regain his honor. But Madmartigan lost this opportunity by deserting Airk at Land’s End for personal and moral reasons.

As a punishment Madmartigan was led to the crow’s cage at the Daikini Crossroads where he was left to die of thirst. He was freed by Willow Ufgood, who was seeking someone to watch over Daikini baby Elora Danan. Madmartigan tried to take the infant to one of his many women acquaintances but the baby was kidnapped by thieving Brownies.

Willow retrieved Elora, and found Madmartigan at a roadside tavern, while dressing up as “Hilda” to hide the fact that he and a wench were cheating on her brutish husband, Llug. As Llug discovered his wife’s infidelity, Nockmaar soldiers appeared seeking Elora. Both Madmartigan and Willow narrowly escaped with Elora as Madmartigan took out the soldiers.

Seeing that both he and Willow had the same route, Madmartigan saw him safely to the fishing village near the island where Fin Raziel was captive, but shortly after Nockmaar soldiers caught up to them. Madmartigan, Elora Danan, Willow and Raziel were taken prisoners by Sorsha and all were led to General Kael’s camp.

Rool and Franjean, the Brownies, attempt to free them from the camp, but in the process, Madmartigan became smitten with a fairy spell, the Dust of Broken Heart that draws him to the sleeping Sorsha, where he professes his love. The confusion allowed him and Willow time to escape on a sleighing shield.

They ended up in a snow village. However the Nockmaar soldiers were after them. They hid in a basement where Airk and other soldiers were also hidden. As Sorsha searched the hut, Madmartigan took her captive at knife point. Airk denied to help them to Tir Asleen but as they left on horse, Airk and the Galladoorn knights stopped Bavmorda’s soldiers from going after them.

The team fled to Tir Asleen but Sorsha questioned whether Madmartigan meant the words of love, and while riding in the canyon maze, she escaped them. Madmartigan and Willow arrived to Tir Asleen expecting an army to defeat Bavmorda. All they found instead was a cursed castle infested with trolls.

Madmartigan equipped himself with the armor of a knight from the castle’s armory, and organized a singlehanded defense from Bavmorda’s hordes, impressing Sorsha who abandoned her allegiance to her mother and fought by his side. Despite the arrival of reinforcements from the surviving knights of Galladoorn, the Nockmaar soldiers were able to steal away with Elora Danan.

Willow Ufgood brought the battle back to Nockmaar. While he, Sorsha and Fin Raziel infiltrated Bavmorda’s tower, Madmartigan and Airk led the knights in an attack on Nockmaar. With a clever ruse that hid their forces in covered trenches, they were able to make their way past the castle walls. Airk fell in battle, but Madmartigan took up his sword and defeated the Nockmaar commander, General Kael.

Willow and Fin Raziel were successful in destroying Bavmorda, and her reign of darkness came to an end. Raziel lifted the curse on Tir Asleen, and Madmartigan became a knight in service of the city as protector.

Okay now! If you haven’t seen Willow yet, GO WATCH IT. If you have, then go REWATCH IT. ^_^

Gingi is a photographer, cosplayer, amateur chef, crazy cat lady, anime otaku, bookworm, generic geek, world traveler, conservative Christian, homeschooler, devoted military wife and stay at home new mother of two little girls.

Gingi blogs about anything and everything that is relevant to being a supermom, stay at home wife, homeschooler and geek girl! You can contact her at gingifreeman@gmail.com or via the contact form on her website at www.domesticgeekgirl.com

Gingi Freeman

Gingi is a photographer, cosplayer, amateur chef, crazy cat lady, anime otaku, bookworm, generic geek, world traveler, conservative Christian, homeschooler, devoted military wife and stay at home new mother of two little girls.
Gingi blogs about anything and everything that is relevant to being a supermom, stay at home wife, homeschooler and geek girl! You can contact her at gingifreeman@gmail.com or via the contact form on her website at www.domesticgeekgirl.com